Jules Massenet was a French composer of the Romantic period, and was best known for his thirty or so operas. From a young age he studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Ambroise Thomas, and went on to win the coveted Prix de Rome in 1863 at the age of 21. In later life he became a professor at the Conservatoire, teaching Gustave Charpentier, Ernest Chausson, Reynaldo Hahn and Gabriel Pierné.